Chicago Cubs head groundskeeper Roger Baird walks across the field as his crew tries to get the tarp on the field during a downpour in the fifth inning.

Image 1 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Chicago Cubs head groundskeeper Roger Baird walks across the field as his crew tries to get the tarp on the field during a downpour in the fifth inning.

Chicago Cubs head groundskeeper Roger Baird walks across the field as...his crew tries to get the tarp on the field during a downpour in the...fifth inning.

Image 2 of 11|Giants game called after controversial rain delay

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Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt (center) inspects the field after a torrential downpour stopped play of the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field on August 19, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.

Image 2 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt (center) inspects the field after a torrential downpour stopped play of the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field on August 19, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.

Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt (center) inspects the field after...a torrential downpour stopped play of the Chicago Cubs game against...the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field on...August 19, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.

Image 3 of 11|Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Associated Press

The grounds crew works on the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley Field during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in Chicago.

Image 3 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

The grounds crew works on the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley Field during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in Chicago.

The grounds crew works on the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley...Field during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the San...Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in...Chicago.

Image 4 of 11|Giants game called after controversial rain delay

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A member of the grounds crew uses a roller to remove water from the infield after a torrential downpour stopped play during the fifth inning.

Image 4 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

A member of the grounds crew uses a roller to remove water from the infield after a torrential downpour stopped play during the fifth inning.

A member of the grounds crew uses a roller to remove water from the...infield after a torrential downpour stopped play during the fifth...inning.

Image 5 of 11|Giants game called after controversial rain delay

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Chicago Cubs head groundskeeper Roger Baird (right) and the crew work on Wrigley Field.

Image 5 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Chicago Cubs head groundskeeper Roger Baird (right) and the crew work on Wrigley Field.

Grounds crew work on the field after heavy rains suspended play during the fifth inning of the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field on August 19, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.

Image 6 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Grounds crew work on the field after heavy rains suspended play during the fifth inning of the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field on August 19, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.

Grounds crew work on the field after heavy rains suspended play during...the fifth inning of the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco...Giants at Wrigley Field on August 19, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.

Image 7 of 11|Giants game called after controversial rain delay

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Chicago Cubs ground crew members struggle to get the tarp on the field as rain falls during the fifth inning of the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field on August 19, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois

Image 7 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Chicago Cubs ground crew members struggle to get the tarp on the field as rain falls during the fifth inning of the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field on August 19, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Cubs ground crew members struggle to get the tarp on the field...as rain falls during the fifth inning of the Chicago Cubs game against...the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field on August 19, 2014 in...Chicago, Illinois

Image 8 of 11|Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Associated Press

The grounds crew work on the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley Field during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in Chicago.

Image 8 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

The grounds crew work on the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley Field during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in Chicago.

The grounds crew work on the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley...Field during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the San...Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in...Chicago.

Image 9 of 11|Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Associated Press

The umpires look over the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley Field during a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs in the fifth inning Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in Chicago.

Image 9 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

The umpires look over the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley Field during a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs in the fifth inning Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in Chicago.

The umpires look over the field after a heavy rain soaked Wrigley...Field during a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the...Chicago Cubs in the fifth inning Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in Chicago.

Image 10 of 11|Giants game called after controversial rain delay

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Managers Bruce Bochy and Rick Renteria discuss the condition of the field with the umpires Will Little (left) and Hunter Wendelstedt (right) during a rain delay at Wrigley Field.

Image 10 of 11 - Giants game called after controversial rain delay

Managers Bruce Bochy and Rick Renteria discuss the condition of the field with the umpires Will Little (left) and Hunter Wendelstedt (right) during a rain delay at Wrigley Field.

Managers Bruce Bochy and Rick Renteria discuss the condition of the...field with the umpires Will Little (left) and Hunter Wendelstedt...(right) during a rain delay at Wrigley Field.

Chicago — The Giants lost 2-0 Tuesday night in a game that was called after 4 1/2 innings, and they were furious with how it was handled by the Cubs.

Give the win to Chicago starting pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada and the save to the Wrigley Field grounds crew, which fouled up covering the infield when rain drenched Wrigleyville as the Giants were pulled off the field before the bottom of the fifth inning.

“Look, I’m frustrated, beside myself,” Bochy said after the game was halted following a delay of 4 hours and 34 minutes — from 8:42 p.m. CDT until it was called at 1:16 a.m. “It’s a long and frustrating night . . . a tough night for everybody.”

The Giants likely will file a protest with Major League Baseball, saying they were told everything would be done to resume the game. For at least the final hour of the delay, the field was untouched except for a guy using a rake.

“It’s my last (recourse). I hope they listen and watch what happened there because in this day and time, it shouldn’t happen, can’t happen, I think, with the importance of these games,” Bochy said.

Crew chief Hunter Wendelstedt said he communicated with MLB 20 to 30 times during the evening and added the rule book has nothing “to put our hat on to suspend the game” and play it another day. “We exhausted all efforts to get this game played.”

As the rain came down like cats and billy goats, the grounds crrew failed to quickly roll the tarp out in a way it would properly cover the entire infield. The weight of the water prematurely ended their efforts, leaving dirt exposed on the left side of the infield and around home plate.

“Pull, pull, pull,” chanted Cubs fans.

Did no good.

For seemingly an eternity, or at least 40 days and 40 nights, the workers tried in vain to do the impossible. Eventually, they figured it out. Pull it halfway off again and attempt to realign it. By the time they finally solved the tarp, it was too late.

Up in the Giants’ broadcast booth, Mike Krukow was ripping the grounds crew, suggesting the slow pace was intentional because a game is official when called after five innings due to an unplayable field. He later recanted.

Once it stopped raining and the tarp was removed, it looked like Lake Michigan had overflowed. The infield was under water. Puddles everywhere. Workers running through them like school kids.

From there, they all got a workout, lifting heavy bags of Diamond Dry, the baseball version of cat litter, onto the field to spread everywhere — especially around short and third. In time, the umpires examined the crew’s work. Unplayable, they said. So more bags. And more bags. And more bags.

Pretty soon, the bandbox turned into a sandbox.

“The field, it got in bad shape there,” Bochy said. “It wasn’t quite playable, and like I said, it was a 15-minute rain there and they couldn’t get the tarp on in time. I just think with this day and time, something should have been done a little bit more.”

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said his team wanted to continue playing.

“We really made a good faith effort to try to play this game for the right reasons because it is a situation where they’re in a pennant race and we’re not,” Hoyer said. “And we want to give them every opportunity to play a full nine innings.”

The umpires came out repeatedly, as did both managers — Bochy, whose team is in a playoff hunt, and Rick Renteria, whose team is out of dreams for 2014 — and the Cubs’ vice president of stadium operations, Carl Rice.

Then they repeatedly walked off. The waiting game continued. The public-address announcer said a couple of times all parties remained hopeful the game would resume.

Eventually, it was decided it wouldn’t.

Anthony Rizzo’s two-run homer in the first inning off Ryan Vogelsong stood up as the only scoring.